Under-fire petrol industry raises prices to highest level since 2014

Monday, 7 May 2018

After a week in the spotlight, New Zealand's major petrol companies have raised prices to a fresh three-and-a-half year high in many parts of the country.

Z Energy, Caltex and BP sites across Wellington all raised the price of regular 91 octane petrol by 2 cents a litre by Monday morning, to $2.199 a litre.

The price used in most of Wellington is what the industry refers to as the 'national' or 'main port' price, which also applies in many parts of the South Island and areas where there is no local discounting.

According to data maintained by the Automobile Association, the national price is now at the highest level since October 2014. The national price hit an all time high in mid-2013, at $2.269.

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A week ago, Stuff revealed details of an internal email from within BP discussing pricing 'tactics', which prompted Energy Minister Megan Woods to call the company's senior management in for a meeting.

Afterwards, Woods said she doubted the activity discussed in the email was isolated to the company and that she believed the market may be 'broken'.

BP has refused repeated requests for an interview.

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